Wireless carriers fined $200 million for allegedly sharing customers’ location data
The head of the FCC says Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile "failed to protect the information entrusted to them."
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TechCrunchUS fines telcos $200M for sharing customer location data without consent
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Monday that it is fining the four U.S. major wireless carriers around $200 million in total for “illegally” sharing and selling customers’ real-time location data without their consent. AT&T’s fine is more than $57 million, Verizon’s is almost $47 million, T-Mobile’s is more than $80 million and Sprint’s is more than $12 million, according to the FCC’s announcement.
- Engadget
FCC fines America's largest wireless carriers $200 million for selling customer location data
The Federal Communications Commission has slapped the largest mobile carriers in the US with a collective fine worth $200 million for selling access to their customers' location information without consent.
- TechCrunch
Conservative cell carrier Patriot Mobile hit by data breach
U.S. cell carrier Patriot Mobile experienced a data breach that included subscribers’ personal information, including full names, email addresses, home ZIP codes and account PINs, TechCrunch has learned. Patriot Mobile, which reportedly has fewer than 100,000 subscribers, bills itself as “America’s only Christian conservative wireless provider and our mission is to passionately defend our God-given Constitutional rights and freedoms while glorifying God.” A hacker who claimed responsibility for the breach provided TechCrunch with a sample of data stolen from Patriot Mobile.
- Yahoo Sports
Lakers guard Austin Reaves fails to qualify for Korn Ferry Tour event: ‘I was nervous’
Austin Reaves carded a 6-over 76 on Monday in his attempt to qualify for the Knoxville Open.
- Yahoo Life Shopping
This tank top 'hangs so perfectly and hides all flaws,' shoppers say — and it's on sale for $15
Stay cool all spring and summer in this flattering staple, beloved by nearly 17,000 five-star fans.
- Yahoo Life Shopping
This top-selling foot peel is the best kind of gross, and with double discounts it's over 50% off
More than 50,000 fans love that it sloughs away dead skin in sheets, leaving your pups 'literally transformed.'
- Engadget
Apple is battling a $2 billion EU fine over App Store practices
Apple has reportedly filed a formal challenge against a €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) that the European Union handed down earlier this year. The bloc had determined that Apple restricted rival music streaming apps on the App Store.
- TechCrunch
The 'vote Trump' spam that hit Bluesky in May came from decentralized rival Nostr
Decentralized social networks aren't immune to botnet-driven spam, as a recent spam attack on Bluesky demonstrates. Earlier this month, a flood of posts reading "remember to always vote Trump" showed up on Bluesky's network posted by accounts with random names and default avatars. The spam didn't originate on Bluesky, though.
- Engadget
Comcast's bundle of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium costs $15 per month
Comcast's bundle of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium will arrive next week. StreamSaver will cost $15 per month, which is $10 less than subscribing to the base version of each service separately.
- Autoblog
Fisker cancels roadside assistance service in the United States
Fisker's roadside assistance service is no longer available in the United States as the company continues to save money where it can.
- Autoblog
McLaren reveals one-off Senna-inspired livery for Monaco GP on both F1 and the road car
McLaren is headed to Monaco with a radically new one-off race livery meant to celebrate the late Ayrton Senna.
- Engadget
Ooni's Memorial Day sale discounts pizza ovens by up to 30 percent
Ooni has discounted its pizza ovens by up to 30 percent as part of a Memorial Day sale. The most notable item here is the Ooni Frya 12 wood pellet pizza oven, which is $245 as part of the sale.
- Engadget
Ninja Creami review: This machine makes your frozen dreams come true
For people who want a compact machine to make all sorts of frozen treats, the Creami delivers much more than its $200 price tag might suggest.
- TechCrunch
Porsche Ventures invests in battery startup South 8 to boost cold-weather EV performance
All cars suffer when the mercury drops, but electric vehicles suffer more than most as heaters draw more power and batteries charge more slowly as the liquid electrolyte inside thickens. Drivers in Chicago found this out the hard way last January after many Teslas failed to charge during a deep freeze. One startup, South 8 Technologies, says it can make cold-weather charging more reliable by filling batteries with a pressurized, liquified gas electrolyte instead of a liquid one.
- TechCrunch
Pinecone launches its serverless vector database out of preview
Pinecone, the vector database startup founded by Edo Liberty, the former head of Amazon's AI Labs, has long been at the forefront of helping businesses augment large language models (LLMs) with their own data. Most recently, though, the company completely rearchitected its product to launch Pinecone Serverless, which frees its customers from having to think about managing their deployments and scaling them. Today, Pinecone serverless comes out of beta and is now generally available.
- Yahoo Finance
Streaming giants have made strides toward profitability but still aren't 'over the hump'
Media giants made more headway on the path to streaming profitability this earnings season. But a lot more work still needs to be done.
- Yahoo Sports
Doug Pederson: Trevor Lawrence 'hopefully' signs extension with Jaguars 'sooner' than later
What type of extension will Lawrence demand after an up-and-down first three NFL seasons?
- TechCrunch
ChatGPT's mobile app revenue saw its biggest spike yet following GPT-4o launch
Consumer demand for the latest AI technology is heating up. The launch of OpenAI's latest flagship model, GPT-4o, has now driven the company's biggest-ever spike in revenue on mobile, despite the model being freely available on the web. This technical innovation is also pushing more users to upgrade to OpenAI's paid subscription, according to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures.
- TechCrunch
TechCrunch Space: Star(side)liner
For those who haven't heard, the first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule has been pushed back yet again to no earlier than May 25. From NASA: "The additional time allows teams to further assess a small helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster." Scheduling note: TechCrunch Space will be off on May 27 in observance of Memorial Day.
- Engadget
Surface Laptop Copilot+ hands-on: Quietly powerful
The Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC is still as subtle as ever, but far more powerful.